Anti-shock gun telescope mounting



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33-2-+5 OR 3 9 205 @580 SR Sept. 14, 1965 L. T. OSBORN 3,205,580

ANTI-SHOCK GUN TELESCOPE MOUNTING Filed Nov. 4, 1963 LLOYD 'r. osaonu INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY United States Patent 3,205,580 ANTI-SHOCK GUN TELESCOPE MOUNTING Lloyd T. Osborn, Webster, N.Y., assignor to Bausch & Lomb Incorporated, Rochester, N.Y., a corporation of New York Filed Nov. 4, 1963, Ser. No. 321,261 3 Claims. (Cl. 33-50) The present invention relates to a gun telescope mounting and more particularly it relates to means for aligning said telescope and particularly for increasing the capability of accurately repositioning said mount after recoil subsequent to firing the gun.

In gun telescope mountings, it is common practice to allow the heavy shock forces which are generated by the firing of the gun to be transmitted fully to the sighting telescope. In telescopes which include fragile or delicate reticle mechanism, especially those made of frangible materials such as glass, damage is likely to occur in the form of breakage or misalignment and this is particularly true when the telescope is used on heavy caliber guns. In fact, care must be exercised in designing gun telescope mountings to avoid a strong tendency to misalign the telescope by inducing an unwanted rotative or rocking force transversely of the telescope.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel gun telescope mounting which reduces the setback or recoil shock transmitted to the telescope at the moment of firing the gun on which the telescope is mounted.

It is a further object to provide such a device which reduces the severity of the rebound of the sighting telescope from the setback shock.

A still further object is to provide such a device which is constructed so that said setback force is distributed evenly around the anchorage for the sighting scope whereby no tilting, twisting or rotative force moments are transmitted to the telescope tube.

Further objects and advantages of the present invention will appear from a study of the specification herebelow taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a gun telescope mounting embodying the present invention, parts thereof being broken away;

FIG. 2 is a midsectional view of said invention with certain parts broken away and shown in one operative position; and

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of certain working parts of the invention, certain parts being broken away and shown in section.

A gun telescope mounting in generally designated in FIG. 1 by the numeral for holding a sighting telescope 11, and said mounting including a front bracket 12 and a rear bracket 13 on which the telescope is held.

According to the present invention, the front bracket 12 supports the telescope 11 in a univeral joint in such a way that the shock of the recoil force, caused by the firing of the gun on which the telescope is mounted, will be evenly distributed completely around the telescope tube by the novel mechanism here disclosed and thereby preventing the setback force from being converted into a twisting, tilting or rotative moment which would act to misalign the telescope.

To provide such an effect, a clamping sleeve 14 which is loosely fitted onto the outer surface of the telescope 11 is provided. The sleeve 14 is clamped in a fixed position on the telescope 11 in any preferred manner such as by forming collet-like tapered and slightly flexible fingers 15 on the rear end of said sleeve and by providing a clamping nut 16 having a tapered portion 17 on the inner surface conforming to the taper on the fingers 15. For drawing 3,205,580 Patented Sept. 14, 1965 the fingers 15 inwardly against the telescope 11, a thread 18 is provided on the rear part of said inner surface of the clamping nut 16, said thread engaging a thread 19 formed on the outer surface of the sleeve 14. The clamping sleeve 14 has a bulbous spherically surfaced head 20 formed thereon at its forward end which constitutes the male member of the aforesaid universal joint. The female part of said joint is provided by a spherically shaped interior surface 21 formed in the front bracket so as to fit the head 20. For advantages in assembling the two parts of the joint, the forward portions of the spherical surfaces 20 and 21 are truncated or shortened. The surface 21 terminates forwardly in a short cylindrical portion 22 which permits relative longitudinal movement between the bracket 12 and sleeve 14 while the shock of gun recoil causes the gun to move rearwardly.

Rearwardly the spherical surface 21 terminates near a radial wall 23 which together with a contiguous cylindrical wall 24 forms a counterbored recess in the bracket 12. A bore 25 of considerably greater diameter than the sleeve 14 is formed where the radial wall 23 approaches the spherical surface 21 to permit freedom of pivotal movement of the universal joint.

For the purpose of preventing rotational or twisting movement of the sleeve 14 relative to the bracket 12, a longitudinal slot 26 is formed through the bulbous head 20 wherein a peg or stud 27 is engaged, said stud being suitably fixed in said bracket 14 in a hole which is located on a vertical center line extending preferably through the center of the radius of the spherical surfaces 21 and 20'.

A second feature of the present invention resides in the cushioning device for absorbing the shock of the recoil force when the gun is fired and said device comprises a mildly yieldable rubber ring 28 having a durometer reading approximately in the range of 20 to 30. Said rubber ring 28 preferably lies in contact with the radial wall 23 and cylindrical wall 24, and the rubber ring is confined longitudinally between the wall 23 and a stop collar 29 having a front wall 29 which is adjustably secured on the sleeve 14 in any preferred manner such as the threaded connection 19. It will be noted in this construction that the opposite walls 21 and 20' of the universal joint are concentric to each other irrespective of direction of the aiming axis of the telescope 11 relative to the axis of the gun so that the aforementioned rotational or twisting movement of the telescope is eliminated.

A still further feature concerns means for reducing the rebound shock which follows the aforementioned recoil movement and this feature is provided by making the outer diameter 31 of the stop collar 29 of smaller radius than the rubber ring 28 so that the ring is stressed considerably in shear rather than entirely in compression. The shearing stress takes place along a line of shear 32 approximately located as shown in FIG. 2 of the drawing and results in a retardation of the restoration of the rubber ring 28 to its relaxed or original shape when the recoil force is removed, and thereby reduces the rebound force transmitted to the telescope 11.

It will be perceived from the foregoing description that the present invention provides a gun telescope mounting which maintains the sighting telescope in good operative alignment on the gun for all conditions of use and furthermore properly cushions longitudinal shocks in both directions whereby the life of the reticle structure and other optical and mechanical parts of the telescope is greatly extended.

Although only a preferred form of the invention has been shown and described in detail, other forms are possible and changes may be made in the specific construction and arrangement of the details thereof without departing from the spirit of the invention as defined in the claims here appended.

3 I claim: 1. In a gun sighting telescope mounting including a front bracket fixed to the barrel of said gun so as to support said telescope, the combination of,

a demountable clamping sleeve having an inner surface which is loosely fitted to the outer surface of the telescope tube,

radially contractable collet means formed on one end of said sleeve,

means for clamping said collet means tightly upon said tube,

a spherically surfaced head formed on the other end of said sleeve,

a pair of parallel and mutually spaced longitudinally directed Walls defining a slot which is cut through said spherical surface,

a pin fixed into said bracket and located substantially on a vertical axis extending through the center of said surface and into engagement with said slot,

a spherical interior surface formed in said front bracket concentrically with and fitted to said first spherical surface so as to form a universal type joint therewith,

a rear facing lateral wall formed on said front bracket,

a rubber ring seated on the outer surface of said sleeve in contact with said lateral wall,

a stop collar secured to said sleeve and having an outer diameter less than the largest diameter of said rubber ring and lying in contact therewith,

whereby the recoil force generated by firing the gun is transmitted in reduced amount to the telescope yieldably and evenly around its tube through the rubber ring regardless of the Windage and elevation alignment of the telescope relative to said gun barrel, and furthermore the rebound of the telescope from the compression of said rubber ring is greatly reduced.

2 In a gun sighting telescope mounting including a front bracket fixed to the barrel of said gun so as to support said telescope, the combination of,

a demountable clamping sleeve having an inner surface which is loosely fitted to the outer surface of the telescope tube,

radially contractable collet means formed on one end of said sleeve,

means for clamping said collet means tightly upon said tube,

a spherically surfaced head formed on the other end of 7 said sleeve,

a pair of parallel and mutually spaced longitudinally directed walls defining a slot which is cut through said spherical surface,

a pin seated in said bracket and located substantially on a vertical axis extending through the center of said surface and into engagement with said slot,

a spherical interior surface formed in said front bracket concentrically with and fitted to said first spherical surface so as to form a universal type joint therewith,

an inner cylindrical surface formed longitudinally in the rear of said bracket and a radial wall which is located adjacent to said interior spherical surface and terminates outwardly at said cylindrical surface to form a recess in the bracket,

a stop collar having an outer diameter less than said inner cylindrical surface and spaced axially along the sleeve away from said wall, and

an annular ring of resilient material located in and filling the space between said collar and wall,

whereby the recoil force generated by firing the gun is transmitted in reduced amount to the telescope yieldably and evenly around its tube through said annular ring regardless of the Windage and elevation alignment of the telescope relative to said gun barrel, and furthermore the rebound of the telescope from the compression of the resilient material is greatly reduced.

3. A mounting for a gun sighting telescope as set forth in claim 1 further characterized by said spherical interior surface terminating at its front end in a cylindrical surface having a diameter at least as great as the largest part of said interior surface whereby the relative longitudinal movement between the bracket and sleeve is permitted.

No references cited.

ISAAC LISANN, Primary Examiner. 

1. IN A GUN SIGHTING TELESCOPE MOUNTING INCLUDING A FRONT BRACKET FIXED TO THE BARREL OF SAID GUN SO AS TO SUPPORT SAID TELESCOPE, THE COMBINATION OF, A DEMOUNTABLE CLAMPING SLEEVE HAVING AN INNER SURFACE WHICH IS LOOSELY FITTED TO THE OUTER SURFACE OF THE TELESCOPE TUBE, RADIALLY CONTRACTABLE COLLET MEANS FORMED ON ONE END OF SAID SLEEVE, MEANS FOR CLAMPING SAID COLLET MEANS TIGHTLY UPON SAID TUBE, A SPHERICALLY SURFACES HEAD FORMED ON THE OTHER END OF SAID SLEEVE, A PAIR OF PARALLEL AND MUTUALLY SPACED LONGITUDINALLY DIRECTED WALLS DEFINING A SLOT WHICH IS CUT THROUGH SAID SPHERICAL SURFACE, A PIN FIXED INTO SAID BRACKET AND LOCATED SUBSTANTIALLY ON A VERTICAL AXIS EXTENDING THROUGH THE CENTER OF SAID SURFACE AND INTO ENGAGEMENT WITH SAID SLOT, A SPHERICAL INTERIOR SURFACE FORMED IN SAID FRONT BRACKET CONCENTRICALLY WITH AND FITTED TO SAID FIRST SPHERICAL SURFACE SO AS TO FORM A UNIVERSAL TYPE JOINT THEREWITH, A REAR FACING LATERAL WALL FORMED ON SAID FRONT BRACKET, A RUBBER RING SEATED ON THE OUTER SURFACE OF SAID SLEEVE IN CONTACT WITH SAID LATERAL WALL, A STOP COLLAR SECURED TO SAID SLEEVE AND HAVING AN OUTER DIAMETER LESS THAN THE LARGEST DIAMETER OF SAID RUBBER RING AND LYING IN CONTACT THEREWITH, WHEREBY THE RECOIL FORCE GENERATED BY FIRING THE GUN IS TRANSMITTED IN REDUCED AMOUNT TO THE TELESCOPE YIELDABLY AND EVENLY AROUND ITS TUBE THROUGH THE RUBBER RING REGARDLESS OF THE WINDAGE AND ELEVATION ALIGNMENT OF THE TELESCOPE RELATIVE TO SAID GUN BARREL, AND FURTHERMORE THE REBOUND OF THE TELESCOPE FROM THE COMPRESSION OF SAID RUBBER RING IS GREATLY REDUCED. 